Binds
by Hylander McLeod
Summary: Three years after Jounouchi's death others still return. Each one comes alone. But now when they show up someone else comes as well. The same person with all of them. Coincidence? Or is there something else amiss? Something none of them know. Except One
1. Hatred

disclaimer- I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Tragic. Very tragic.

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It was dark. The cold winds, swung by occasionally. The hard rain, coming down with the force of several thousand tons of debreis, bombarded the ground. The heavens had called a war upon the earth, not caring for its defenlessness, coming on with the force of thousands for every one adversry who ever he may be. Yet all this failed to phase him. He remained stationary, unmoving from that one position, his eyes keeping their gaze on that cold hard stone.

25 year-old Kaiba Seto did move from his spot. Usually he would be home right now, either asleep, though it was very seldom, or overlooking his business from his own home office. Instead he was here doing nothing but staring at the slab before one that bore that ever too familiar name.

_Why I am even here? Why should it even matter? We were harldy civil to each other so what is it that drags me to this spot? _

Truth be told he no idea. No actual reason he could say with words. He hadn't shown up at the wake. Naturally he wouldn't, giving his excuse on how some important deal involving Kaiba Corp was higher on his list of priorities. Motou had tried to convince him, yet he would not be swayed

_**three years ago**_

_"Please Kaiba-kun. You can't simply act like it doesn't effect you as well."_

_"I never cared for that bonkotsu and I never will. Leave."_

_"After all this time you still won't him the slight respect. Even now? Even in death? _

_"I have higher priorities than saying some sappy farewell." The ice glare did not fade from his eyes "Leave, Motou. I won't tell you gain."_

He never considered the blond to be of much worth. Perhaps that was the same reason the blond thought so of him. The disdain and contempt they had for ech other was greater than he himself had for his own truest enemy. The passion that came out seeing the other brought to his knees, always being brought down by someone, who at least in his own eyes, was a far greater adversary, was hardly evident, the satisaction empty. Yet he still followed through on this ever constant routine with him always on top.

So why was he here? was he overlooking the grave of someone he claimed to have hated? Why did he bother wasting his time standing by the memory of what was left, of a bonkotsu?

He found himself unablte to answer.

Reason. That was the statement his brother had given. He couldn't understand him then. He wouldn't

_**three years ago the next day. **_

_"I don't see why you are so adamant on going. He wasn't any more important to you than to me."_

_Kaiba Mokuba stood at the door. He did not bother looking at his older brother. _

_"I'm going nii-sama. Simple." Pushing the door open, he grabbed his umbrella. He was about to step through when other spoke. _

_"Why?"_

_"Reason." with that said the teen stepped through the door, umbrella in hand, shutting it without a second glance_

The CEO shook his head in an attempt to erase the thought from his mind. He know realized.

He hated the blond. He enjoyed picking on him. Enjoyed getting under skin. Enjoyed to rile up is temper, to have the blond seek a fight with him, only to be brought back down once again.

Why? What came of it? What stood he to gain?

Nothing. He took his eyes off the slab instead focusing on the ground in front of it. It Shouldn't have lead to this.

Others had come. Multiple times. He knew. The list was long. Motou. Kujaku. Shizuka. Valon. Honda. Kayiki. Ishtar. Rishid. Even Mokuba made it a habit.

They had Reason. It was time for his own.

"So you did show up."

Kaiba Seto turned around. A second figure, male no doubt, from the tone of voice had stood a few steps behind the blue eyed man. A cloack covered most of his body. His face was masked exposing only his eyes, which in turn were concealed by the night.

Moving until he stood next to Kaiba, the man stared at the name engraved on the tombstone. "Why now."

The CEO sighed slightly closing his eyes. "I had to." He had no other way of explaining otherwise.

For a few minutes no one said word. Seeing, the other was not gonna speak his due yet Kaiba challenged "Are you always this calm about death?" 'And they say I'm emotionless.' he thought to thimself.

"It's not death that matters, it's what we take from it. " He shot a quick glance at Kaiba before turning to the grave.

The CEO had to admit, the stranger had a point. Whoever he was. "I was a fool for blinding myself from the truth." He and the blond were more alike than he realized. "It can never be put to rest now." He turned to the other. "You knew him?"

"I know him. No matter how small, how insignificant, connection doesn't stop at the grave." Letting his fingers touch the name carved within, he turned to leave.

Kaiba turned after him "Who are you?"

Not looking back the other had answered. "Another fool. Like him. Like yourself. What difference will a name do?"

* * *

well that's chapter one.


	2. Guilt

disclaimer- I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Otherwise Mai and Jou would be a couple by now

* * *

**Guilt**

He approached the familiar site, a painful expression on his face. His footsteps were dileberately slow. It was as if he wanted to believe this was nothing more than an illusion, a horrific nightmare that he would soon wake from and come to discovering his right hand standing alongside himself, overlooking the ocean waters as the two traveled to Duelist Kingdom.

Alas, it was impossible. Gone were the days when the two spent their time with games, sitting on the roof of the school, when nothing else mattered but them (and their other friends) a time when they could simply live life as normal teenagers.

Okay so their lives were not typically normal per se. Not when you have to deal with millenium items, evil spirits bent on world conquest, ancient egyptian magic and the comming of the apocalypse, but he would gladly relieve those days once again, despite the hardships and near misses, the number of times they have barely escaped unscathed and everything was back to normal. For despite all that, throughout those days several friendships were forged, several obstacles overcome and despite the risks that they took were was one thing that made it different. _'Yes'_ he thought to himself _'those were definately the glory days of our lives.'_

Motou Yuugi had matures much since that time, becoming his own person, just as Atem had he would said before departing into the next world. His height now rivaled that of the former Egyptian pharaoh, and his voice had more of a baritone sound, similarly to the deep voice of the one he once called his other self. He sighed sadly as he continued his approach to the grave that bore a painful reminder. The reminder of the past that he couldn't help but feel guilty of. The guilt of not doing something to prevent it, though he knew the other would not want to accept his help. Not then anyway.

He wondered to himself if Atem missed Jounouchi as much as he did. While their own minds may have been merged, courtesy of the millenium puzzle, it was he pharaoh who would be more in control during the times of danger, the duels with several opponents, whether friend or foe. It was perhaps because of that perhaps, that Jounouchi was just as much as Atem's right hand as his own, if not more. And yet that's what made those days count. Every adventure. The dangers they faced. The hardships they pulled through. It was because he was there. Because of _him. _

He and the blond hadn't started out on friendly terms. But once being bound by friendship, a brotherly bond even, they had since then faced every danger together. Sure Honda and Anzu also were into the picture, but during duels, the shadow games it always the two of them. He would be the go to person. Fate had decreed it so. But Jounouchi was always there to lend a hand. A shoulder to lean on. A reinforcement. An ally. Despite not having, millenium magic or another version of himself, he fought by his side no matter what it cost him.

_'Like Hero and Sidekick'_ the tri hair colored man thought sadly.

He did not know what exactly did it, but perhaps the same thing that made him had left him broken as well. He had long since suspected something had bothered Jounouchi but knew the other had too much pride to openly talk about it. He had surprisingly found out about his friend's home life back in his teen years and wondered what else he kept behind closed doors. Jounouchi had a tendancy not to share his troubles, his burdens, with others even his friends. So what secret did he keep this time?

After graduation the gang had all wenttheir own seperate ways. Anzu had pursued her dancing dreams. Honda decided to venture into the army. Yet he never knew of Jounouchi's plans. The two had communicated, through letters mostly as the distance factor was something to deal with. Yet he could tell after a while something was wrong. Maybe it was the retirement from duel monsters that was the begining of it. He had remembered that time they met up prior to the tournament, the blond telling him that he put his deck away. For good.

They talked that day. About simple things. Their lives. Their friends. He was surprised to learn, Jounouchi had kept in touch with Honda and Anzu as well. Even his hatred of Kaiba had diminshed. Yet the one thing that never came up was the detailed reason of his retirement. It was one thing the blond refused to bring up. He would give a few simple word answers but nothing more.

He never found out the truth. He didn't get a chance.

His mind flashed back to the day of the wake. Anzu had been rather harsh when Mai-san showed up. Honda's felt disturbed by Valon's presence, questioning the aussie why he was there.

Suddenly it hit him. He never spoke of Kujaku Mai since their last meeting. Not even in his letters. He remembered the hostility between Mai and Anzu. Could it have something to do with that?

"You feel it too. don't you?"

He turned around. A few feet away from him, stood another male, slightly near 6 feet. He was dressed in black, a heavy jacket wrapped around him. A mask covered most of his face. "Feel what?"

"Guilt. Knowing you could have done something. Should have done something. " receiving a nod from Mutou he continued. "I know I feel the same way."

Yuugi watched him leave, before turning back to the grave. "What happened to you Jounouchi-kun?"

* * *

pardon the long wait. I wasn't sure whether to do Yuugi or Mai in this chapter.

oh well. R&R as always


	3. Sorrow

disclaimer- No money was made from this and I hold no ownership rights at all

* * *

**Sorrow**

It had been one month since she last came. It was a crisp, windy day in mid November, the sun not having yet set, but well past its highest point. The woman's steps were dileberately slow, her head cast down slightly. She was simply dressed, white platform sneakers, along with jeans a shade of greyish-blue. Parts of a sweater could be seen from under the folds of her rather heavy jacket, as she continued her slow walk. The jacket's hood, worn over her head, concealed her hair.

The jacket was rather heavy, but it did offer shelter from the winds and the seemingly cold temperatures. She hoped it would do the same for the rain that had begun to fall slightly but had not was not enough for her to make use of her umbrella she held in her left hand.

She approached the grave with silence just as she had every time in the past three years since the incident, a bouquet of pink flowers, carnations to be specific, enclosed in her other hand. Placing them beside the tombstone, she once again lifted her eyes to the name on engraved on the slab.

**Katsuya Jounouchi**

_brother and friend_

_1981- 2003_

_may you forever rest in piece_

two tears fell from her eyes

"Oni-chan"

_**flashback**_

_It was dark, the sun long since set. Most of the occupants had retired to bed in wait of the next day. In one house the lights were still on, as two voices could be heard arguing over something. The voices were female the first being angry, the second what sounded hysterical. _

_"I told you this would happen. And I was right," shouted 48 year old Kawai Meichi her voice high and angry at her daughter's disobiedence. "That's why I left him there with that man." She slammed the door cuasing a framed pictue standing on the girl's bureau to fall to the floor. There was a sound of shattering glass foollowed by a gasp of shock._

_Tears poured down the younger girl's eyes. In her hands she clutched the photo of a younger girl along side a boy a few years older, who had his right arm around her shoulder and seemed to be guiding her somewhere. His left index finger was pointed a direction, which the girls gaze followed and he seemed to have lowered and tilted his head, as if speeking to her. It was one the few photos she had before the divorce and her world had come crashing down a few months later. _

_"How could you? After everything Oni-chan did-"_

_The woman silenced her, her voice ringing high."The only thing he did is prove himself to be an exact copy of** him**." she shouted. "There was a reason I left him and this is it. He was already a lot of trouble." _

_There younger girl rose to her feet, smacking her mother across the cheeck. "I hate you kaa-san. You may not want to go, but you can't stop me from doing so." _

_The mother was beyond herself now. "You step outside, I don't ever want to see you at my door again!!!" How dare her precious daughter take the side of her dilenquent brother, over her? It was preposterious. Unthinkable. _

_Her face was one of revultion. How could a mother say that about her own child?"Fine. You never did love him, did you? You thought him a mistake. You always said so. 'Girls don't wouldn't be like this' you said." _

_"Did you even read the papers? Did you hear how he died, your precious Katsuya?" She yelled tauntingly. "Alcohol pisoning that's how. He is just the same as that pathetic old drunk!!!"_

_**end flashback**_

Her mother had been right. About the reason at least. Still she didn't care.

She had went to the funeral, which took place three years from this exact date. She cried. She remembered it. She had cried long and hard, perhaps for several hours. Anzu had attempted to comfort her as did a young man she did not recognize but who she assumed must have been another friend of her brother's, maybe one that he made at some time after Battle City. Honda of course was his arrogant self again, calling her three days after the wake and asking her out on a date. The _nerve _of that boy.

She should have known something was wrong. When she greeted him in the airport that day, when his flight arrived from Egypt, though he was glad to see her he appeared distant. She remembered him briefly search through the crowd, as if searching for a familiar face, but simply brushed it off as taking in the sights of home when she asked him.

After that they communicated with letters. He would write once a month and she would respond. They wrote of simple things; of their days and their friends and such, but meant alot to her. She had several times, asked him about Miss Kujaku, but he always replied that he had not seen her from the day they parted their own seperate ways. It took a while before he told her the truth, telling her of their encounter in California and how they were on opposite sides. He left out no detail. She wrote back to him, shocked but with understanding, asking if he planned to her or if she herself could help him do so. She remembered the lines that were on the letter she got. 'I'll give Mai some time. She'll return when she's ready.'

She knew better. He cared for the older woman. It was evident. She attemted to talk to her after the wake but the blonde said that she could not deal with it at the moment. She decided not to push it.

After a while the letters stopped.

She should have known something was wrong she should have.

The rain was now falling heavily. The sun had long set, as darkness began to cover the cemetery. She did not know how log she sat there, crying her eyes out but it was clear that some time had passed. She wiped her eyes with her left hand. "I miss you Oni-chan," she whispered.

"Kawai Shizuka."

She turned around. An unfamiliar figure, clad in black was standing just to the side of her. "H-hai?"

"You should not be here this late," he said, offering her his right hand.

She took it, letting the man pull her to feet. They stayed silent for a while. "It pains you doesn't it," the strager said quietly.

She nodded. "He always looked out for me. The only one who did." She squinted shutting her eyes to avoid letting the tears fall. "I have nothing now."

"Return to your friends, Kawai-san. They were his family. They will be yours." He bent down letting his fingers touch the name etched into the stone. He was set to take his leave. Her voice stopped him.

"Wait."

He looked at her.

"Will you go as well?" Seeing his puzzled expression she added "to my friends that is. If you were Oni-chan's friend weren't you their's too?"

He laughed slightly. "I left my own too far behind along time ago. There is no going back now." He didn't wait for her answer, as he once again took his leave.

* * *

So now we know what happened to Jounouchi.

Pardon the long delay. It took a while for me to decide on how to write this. I was unsure whether to do Shizuka or Valon.

Yes, I do prefer to think that Jounouchi's mother wanted nothing to do with him, so se left him.

R & R


	4. Wonder

I do not hold any exclusive ownership rights to Yu-Gi-Oh. In fact I don't hold any rights to it at all. I've been meaning to get this chapter up sooner, but it's hard to write a focus on this one's POV. With the thirst three there was a lot more to work with. I've also have more character study pieces in the works as well which are much shorter so I've no idea when this fic will be finished. (Not sure if I will amend this either)

* * *

**Wonder**

He wasn't sure why he'd come. The two of them were hardly friends. In fact, they were both rivals for the heart of the same woman.

'No' he thought. Not really the same. The woman he knew was strong, fiercely independent, and more but in reality it was only a piece of the full picture. It had taken time to understand and accept that but it was now evident, at least from his perspective that the other, not him, actually knew Kujaku Mai.

His own situation with DOMA was more of different one than Rafael or Amelda. He wasn't blindly following some crusade, hoping for some measure of peace like the others. His strength was his pride, and a chance to keep testing it, to reach higher limits was all that was all that remained. He had gotten revenge on those burned down the church he lived in as well as his caretaker, whom he saw a motherly figure. It did come at a price afterwards so when offered the chance to leave prison he had taken it on whim, seeing a chance to once again seek out new opponents and to clash irons, testing his strength.

Her, he brought in for a completely different reason.

Someone who at once was so independent was a mere shadow of her former self during their match. Believing DOMA could restore her strength was only one part. With both of them being loners, having no family or relatives left he thought they could understand one another. When their stint was finished perhaps they could move on. Head for the road, just the two of them. Their similarity as well as their pasts would see them through.

He should have known better.

He remembered taunting Jounouchi for not fighting back with his full spirit, when he watched the two of them battle at the lobby of Industrial Illusions. He went as far as to take out Jounouchi himself to avoid watching a repeat of it. After all, It had been that blond who shattered her.

That was the first card to fall.

Dueling that blond proved to be his fatal mistake. Throughout his life no one had bested him. Not once. _He _was the first, the only.

He still recalls their battle. The years haven't done much to make him forget. It was more of a gladiator match between two contestants, neither determined to quit until either they or their enemy fell. The blows Jounouchi had taken from his armor based deck would have left a lesser man incapacitated. Though as the duel continued it became evident that nothing short of a coma, or even death would have stopped him.

It was then that he knew. That he had accepted. That it was not him but that teenager who truly had known Kujaku Mai.

DOMA hadn't made her stronger. It hadn't done much for him either. Finding out the organization that he thought made him a strong fighter was the very same one responsible for the his tragic past as well as his imprisonment, not to mention to set him up as an agent within their fold, didn't sit well with him. He wondered how Amelda and Rafael dealt with their pains, once having known the full truth and the reason behind it.

He didn't regret the duel they had. Quite the contrary he rather enjoyed it. In a way it had cleared his own mind. He had fought without purpose. He was beaten before it even began.

He would have welcomed a rematch with Jounouchi someday. Without stakes, without strings just the two of them and their cards.

It wasn't to be.

He remembered the faces that were there at the funeral. She was there, seeking to comfort the girl who he later learned was Jounouchi's sister. Strangely enough she held no bitterness towards him for transpired between him and her brother. More questions unanswered. And here he was looking for

Valon sensed someone watching him. Turning he observed another figure clad in full black , standing a few feet behind him and to the right. His face was bowed down. Whether he was lost thought or deliberately looking away, he did not know.

Neither of the two spoke. Finally the other man approached forward until the two stood side by side. Dropping to one knee he traced the name with his fingers before taking his leave.

"You still don't know, do you?"

"Eh?" Valon was stunned by the question. He was unable to see his face as the stranger kept his back turned.

"Why you keep showing up. You searching within you but you can't find the answer."

He sensed his anger rising.

"What do you know?" he countered.

"Nothing. Like you."

He watched the other man leave, unsure of his words. He may not have an answer just yet, but he would try to find one. He owed _him_ that much. Placing his own hand on the stone, Valon closed his eyes.

"Rest well, mate."

Someday he would find the answer.

He left.

* * *

This one may be longer than the others. The reason being is that other than their fight over Mai Valon and Jounouchi didn't really interact per se. Valon had gained newfound respect for Jounouchi but that was it. So here he's standing thinking about why he's showing up when they never got a chance to do anything but beat each other to a pulp.

As always leave a comment.


	5. Mask

Once again I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh

* * *

**Mask**

It felt strange, standing there, looking upon the gravestone; foreign. He perhaps wouldn't even be there, had the two not been accidently tied by the whim-like interventions of faith; by some spark of coincidence, of randomness that for all intents and purposes seemed nothing but hoax to any outsiders mind. Yet it did happen and he thought since the boy was a friend of his enemy, that he would use him, and the others as well, to his full advantage. After all, my enemy's friend is an enemy.

Marik Ishtar was not like most people. Most people do not spend their childhood locked hundreds of feet underground waiting to fulfill their role of some half baked prophecy, living in shadowy caverns where the closest thing to light would be the fading flame from a torch or fireplace, or a dwindling oil lamp. Most people did not have their mother die immediately after their birth and have their, _father_, he shuddered at the thought, plan out their whole life ahead of them without caring what they themselves had wanted, like they were some prized trophy or another extension of the parent, like a clone or a body for a second life. Most people do not wait 12 years to witness the sun for the first time, develop a split personality reaction and commit murder, only to then go forth on a killing spree based on the here-say and words of a ghost-like phantom that vanished as quickly as he appeared.

Most people did not have their anger consume them, engulf them completely where they had become a slave to their own emotions and on top of it all to have their enemy rescue them from their own personal hell.

No, Marik Ishtar was not like most people. But then again neither was Motou Yuugi, nor any of his friends.

He had lost control at one point, so much that he could do nothing more than watch through the eyes of Mazaki, another of Motou's entourage, as Jounouchi had battled the darker side of his character, the anger that had been bottled up inside over not being able to choose his own life, having everything planed out long before his birth, unleashed in full fury wanting to encircle everyone within his raging deathly inferno. It was clear, at least to him, that the physical pain from the battle would later take its toll on Jounouchi, should he be fortunate to survive unlike the young woman.

Yet at that time the boy's own safety was not even a remote concern, at least not to the fighter. Jounouchi had abandoned his own safety, for the life of the woman that fell victim to the same dark influence he was now fighting. He was ready – no – willing to die for _her._

To die for another. Is that what Rishid had been doing for him? How long had Rishid been so, and how many times, day after day. Too many too count but it was that far too many to begin with.

Would he have more of a say in his life had his mother not died? He did not know, but it certainly would have been different. Easier. For him – and Rishid.

At times he wasn't sure why Jounouchi had chosen him as his confidant. Despite that one journey to Egypt and save for a handful of other meetings the two weren't that close. Even personality wise, there was but one similarity at time, though he never considered Jounouchi's series of robbery heists and other gang related incidents to hold a candle to his underground network of the Ghouls and its operations, his then blatant disrespect for authority, if he could put it that mildly was the only similarity. Even then he himself acted out his deeds, no matter how malicious with further intent. There was always a plan, a larger picture. Jounouchi's actions while also tied his own past, no doubt stemmed from some painful memory or another, there was an absence of that same malice and plotting that had led him on his almost ill-fated crusade. Jounouchi simply had chosen to live with reckless abandon, acting on impulse with no plot or concern as to what came next. If anything Rishid would have better comparison, had Jounouchi not been so loudmouthed and his own brother so silent.

Knowing that Jounouchi held no resentment, considering what had transpired, was another surprise.

It was hard for him, on that fateful day. Much harder than he thought it would be. To stand there with that mask donned and not let it slip least someone should suspect something.

A shuffling of feet snapped Marik out his thoughts. Another man was now by the grave, just off to his left. For several minutes the two men had stood there as statues without so much as word said between them.

"It doesn't get any easier does it?"

Marik shook his head in agreement, as if unable to voice his response.

Seemingly having grown tired of the waiting game the other had left, leaving Marik to continue to dwell on his own thoughts.

'It doesn't get any easier' He thought, as he too turned to leave. The Hour was late and Isis would worry. Or worse – suspect.

* * *

So now we know Marik is involved somehow. As for How Marik knew about Jounouchi's past I figure since the millennium rod allows for mind control it should allow a person to see the victim's past as well.

Pardon the delay on this chapter but with grad study and my job there's not much free time. Plus its getting harder to write these chapters as I'm going along.


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